Can Nha Sau Cua Bien (The House Behind the Sea Gate) reconciles over three generations of misery in Vietnam, from the early years of the last century until today. Following a romance borne during the "Dong Du" (Go East) patriotic movement of the early 20th century, Phan Thai Yen looks back on the picture of the "Vietnamese family" history. Destiny and uncertainty loom in the background. Phan leads us through suffering and happiness, along the way telling the story of "the House" where everything begins and also ends. Can Nha Sau Cua Bien is a place of remembrance. Everything is here. War. Resistance. The nationalist struggle against feudalism and colonialism. The Communist Party's betrayal of the very people it claimed to victoriously reunite. The long shadow of trauma cast on individual lives. People caught under the wheels of history. In this novel the writer Phan Thai Yen draws on his personal experience as a former Navy officer from the South, a prisoner in the re-education camp, and as a refugee escaping Vietnam by boat with his family. With great compassion the novel explores different forms of love, patriotic, familial, romantic, and proudly defends what it means to come from the South. Phan Thai Yen's novel bears witness to how the South continued to fall after national liberation day. Reminiscent of the ways revered writers like Ho Bieu Chanh and Binh Nguyen Loc captured the essence of Southern society in their novels, or Nam Cao and Ngo Tat To covered the hardships of life in Northern villages, Phan Thai Yen aspires to dofor Central Vietnam in the period after reunification what these writers have done for the North and the South. Can Nha Sau Cua Bien is not only a moving saga of those dark times in Southern Vietnam after 1975, but also a searing indictment of their inhumanity.
Can Nha Sau Cua Bien (The House Behind the Sea Gate) reconciles over three generations of misery in Vietnam, from the early years of the last century until today. Following a romance borne during the "Dong Du" (Go East) patriotic movement of the early 20th century, Phan Thai Yen looks back on the picture of the "Vietnamese family" history. Destiny and uncertainty loom in the background. Phan leads us through suffering and happiness, along the way telling the story of "the House" where everything begins and also ends. Can Nha Sau Cua Bien is a place of remembrance. Everything is here. War. Resistance. The nationalist struggle against feudalism and colonialism. The Communist Party's betrayal of the very people it claimed to victoriously reunite. The long shadow of trauma cast on individual lives. People caught under the wheels of history. In this novel the writer Phan Thai Yen draws on his personal experience as a former Navy officer from the South, a prisoner in the re-education camp, and as a refugee escaping Vietnam by boat with his family. With great compassion the novel explores different forms of love, patriotic, familial, romantic, and proudly defends what it means to come from the South. Phan Thai Yen's novel bears witness to how the South continued to fall after national liberation day. Reminiscent of the ways revered writers like Ho Bieu Chanh and Binh Nguyen Loc captured the essence of Southern society in their novels, or Nam Cao and Ngo Tat To covered the hardships of life in Northern villages, Phan Thai Yen aspires to dofor Central Vietnam in the period after reunification what these writers have done for the North and the South. Can Nha Sau Cua Bien is not only a moving saga of those dark times in Southern Vietnam after 1975, but also a searing indictment of their inhumanity.
